The present application claims foreign priority to Application No. 101 38 370.3, filed in the Federal Republic of Germany on Aug. 4, 2001, which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference thereto.
The present invention relates to a motor vehicle.
A motor vehicle as described in European Published Patent Application No. 0 347 859 includes a front sectional roof which adjoins a windscreen frame and has a roof opening which can be closed by a sliding convertible top. Furthermore, a rear sectional roof is provided which includes roof columns connected to one another via a crossmember. The sliding convertible top is guided roughly horizontally rearwardly in a sliding manner along lateral guides of the front sectional roof and along lateral guides of the rear sectional roof so as to be lowered downwardly into a stowage position.
In the region of the rear sectional roof, the outer contour and the aerodynamic properties of the roof are disadvantageously affected by the sliding convertible top being guided on the outside and stowed in a lower open position.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a motor vehicle with a sliding convertible top which permits a freer configuration of the outer contour of the roof and the roof of which has improved aerodynamic properties.
The above and other beneficial objects of the present invention are achieved by providing a motor vehicle as described herein.
Since, according to the present invention, the guides in the rear roof region are arranged on that side of the roof columns which faces the interior space of the motor vehicle, freer configuration of the outer contour of the rear roof region is possible. Additionally, the roof of the motor vehicle according to the invention has improved aerodynamic properties due to the guidance of the sliding convertible top in the interior space of the motor vehicle.
The sliding convertible top may be lowered into a convertible-top stowage space which is arranged close to the interior space below an aperture of a rear wall.
In an example embodiment of the present invention, the sliding convertible top includes a center convertible-top section, which may be pushed together, between a rigid front convertible-top section and a rigid rear convertible-top section. During the opening of the roof, the center convertible-top section is shortened, essentially only after the rear convertible-top section has reached a stowage position in a convertible-top stowage space. The center convertible-top section is not folded until in the convertible-top stowage space, so that the opening in the convertible-top stowage space may be selected to be significantly smaller than in conventional sliding convertible tops of this type.